CALGARY - American iconic retailer Nordstrom will be taking a novel approach in hiring people to manage its Calgary store next year - the first location to open outside the United States.

Brooke White, spokesperson for Seattle-based Nordstrom, said the company will begin accepting applications for department managers on December 5.

“We’re going to do something we’ve never done before. When we open stores in the States, we take proven leaders at Nordstrom who are running businesses. Within a Nordstrom store, every department has a department manager and that department manager hires their team,” said White, who was in Calgary on Tuesday. “When we open new stores in the States, department managers from stores all over the country get hand-picked to go out open that new store and bring that culture to the market.

“We’re taking a fresh approach to it (in Canada). We’re going to hire department managers from Canada and we’re going to bring them to Seattle. Hiring begins in January. We’re going to bring them to Seattle from March to May. We’re going to pay for their housing and their food and their travel. We’re going to have them come down and learn our culture and learn about the job.”

Those managers will then hire their team to work in the Calgary market.

The Calgary store, at Chinook Centre in the previous Sears location, will open Sept. 19, 2014 in 140,000 square feet of space and will have 400 employees. It will have a restaurant and an espresso bar.

Other Canadian stores are scheduled to open in Ottawa at Rideau Centre (spring 2015), Vancouver at Pacific Centre (fall 2015) and two in Toronto at Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Sherway Gardens in the fall 2016.

On Tuesday, Sears Canada announced it was closing five stores, including its flagship store at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. Store leases at Sherway Gardens in Toronto, the Markville Shopping Centre in Markham, Ont., London-Masonville Place in London, Ont. and Richmond Centre in Richmond, B.C. will be sold back to mall operator Cadillac Fairview and its partners.

Some of Sears’ previously-divested locations have already been picked up by Nordstrom. That has prompted speculation that Nordstrom may also be eyeing the Eaton Centre.

“It’s no secret that we’d like to have a store in downtown Toronto and we’ve been working on that. We just don’t have anything to say at this point in time. But we are looking,” said White.

Paige O’Neill, general manager at Chinook Centre, said the mall is excited to be welcoming Nordstrom to its retail mix.

“Our team has been working closely with them for over a year to help introduce them to the City of Calgary,” said O’Neill. “Nordstrom continues the Calgary momentum when it comes to being the place to do business. Well-travelled Calgarians are very familiar with Nordstrom’s high level of customer service and I’m certain they’ll find the outstanding talent in our city needed to meet guests’ expectations.

“Nordstrom helps solidify Chinook Centre’s position as a premiere shopping destination not only in Calgary but Alberta and we look forward to their successful opening this time next year.”

Nordstrom began as a shoe store in 1901 in Seattle by Swedish immigrant John W. Nordstrom. It was a shoe store until the 1960s when it bought a local department store and became what it is today. In 1971, Nordstrom went public. In 1978, it left the Pacific Northwest for the first time and opened a store in Orange County, California. It expanded to the eastern part of the U.S. in 1988.

Today it has 252 locations consisting of Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom Rack stores in 35 states. It also operates online and has a business called HauteLook, which offers off-prices online.

“Our philosophy is to make customers feel good and serve customers where they want to be served,” said White. “So that’s why we have these four different ways to serve customers.

“Wherever we go, we hire from the local community. Lots of stores carry much of the same thing. So what’s going to hopefully differentiate us is the experience the customer has. And that is something we don’t take for granted. We don’t take that lightly. We work very hard at it. And we’ve the raised bar high for ourselves every day.”

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